Why more Vietnamese are giving up their citizenships

From abroad with love: Vietnamese brides fall for other countries.

A total of 4,474 individuals renounced their Vietnamese citizenships in 2015, according to data released by the Ministry of Justice last month. Most of the names on the renunciation list were Vietnamese women who married foreigners.

Minister Mai Tien Dung, chief of the Government Office, said at a recent regular press briefing that many Vietnamese brides give up their nationality as soon as they leave the country to become eligible to apply for citizenships in their husbands' countries.

“That makes it easier for them to live and work overseas,” Dung said.

More than 100,000 Vietnamese women marry foreign men each year. Statistics released by the Justice Ministry estimated that in 2010 alone, the closest year for which data is available, around 120,000 Vietnamese women married Taiwanese men and another 35,000 got hitched with South Koreans.

“The number of people renouncing their Vietnamese citizenship is still quite small in comparison with the number of Vietnamese women married to foreign men,” Minister Dung said.

Official statistics also show that some Vietnamese businesspeople hold dual citizenships.

Recently, a newly-elected legislator was dismissed from the National Assembly, Vietnam's legislature, for violating the country’s Nationality Law which prohibits Vietnamese citizens from having dual citizenship.

Nguyen Thi Nguyet Huong, a 46-year-old businesswoman, was stripped of her position after her undeclared Maltese citizenship was uncovered.